Building a Civics of Tech Library Community: An Invitation
Civics of Technology Announcements
Book Clubs:
“Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools” by Natasha Singer on September 29th at 8:00 PM EST. Register here.
Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis on Thursday, October 22 at 8:00 PM EST. Read Kelsey Stoke’s recent blog post about the concept and register here.
Book Reviews:
The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow.
The Small Stuff by Ian Bogost
By Andrea Baer
At this year’s CoT Conference, many library workers concerned about the uncritical adoption of emergent technologies in libraries and education showed up. Many expressed both appreciation for the CoT community and an eagerness to grow connections with fellow library workers who believe in CoT’s mission “to critically inquire into the effects of technologies on their individual and collective lives” and “to advance democratic, ethical, and just uses of technology in schools and society.” These sentiments reflect widespread feelings and efforts in both librarianship and the broader public, as evidenced in the recent popularity of library-led workshops on how patrons can avoid AI.
During the 2026 conference, the CoT Leadership kindly offered to be a space for library workers. CoT folks understand we need community to support and sustain us, as we individually and collectively navigate a moment when many face increased pressures to rapidly adopt and even promote technologies that do not always align with professional or personal values. If you are among those looking for a grassroots library collective that challenges dominant narratives of technological determinism and tech hype, please read on and consider signing up to get involved.
A central goal for this group is to create a supportive space for library workers who share CoT’s perspectives that:
1. “technologies are not neutral tools, but embedded with biases. Technologies create new environments that have unintended, ecological, and disproportionate effects,” and2. “societies into which technologies are introduced are not neutral. Technologies often reinforce or amplify existing systems of oppression.”
With these shared understandings, the CoT library community will be developed collaboratively and organically by its members. Possible activities might include, but are not limited to:
Small group discussions
Reading groups
Mini-workshops or talks
Mini-conferences
A library-focused section of the CoT website
If you work in libraries or in a closely related field and are interested in learning more, please complete this brief interest form. An initial online gathering will follow soon. Themes from the survey responses will be a catalyst for initial planning.
We look forward to connecting!